Disclaimer: All you fan-fic readers know the drill by now. I'm not J.K so obviously I don't own Harry Potter (much as I'd like to), BUT I do own this plot. Well, the bits of it that the voices in my head aren't dictating...

Harry Potter and the Time of Trials

Chapter 5: What Goes Around, Comes Around

Much to Ron's apparent disgust he spent the next few days doing work, along with Harry and Hermione, outside under the willow tree. Ron didn't have much to do as he had not specifically asked for work for the holidays, just a couple of research assignments that had been set for Charms and Transfiguration as well as some Defence against the Dark Arts that Harry had suggested. Hermione, had nearly twice as much as she had included Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and Potions in her itinerary. Harry, even with all he had finished earlier, easily had twice as much as both of them combined - perhaps even more.

With each passing day, Hermione had been getting more and more agitated in the morning when the post owl came. Harry knew all to well why, as the same thing had been bothering him. Their results for the OWLs had yet to arrive. McGonagall had told them quite clearly that they could expect their results sometime in July, and yet July was almost over with no sign of anyone having received their results. The pressure was mounting. Discussions while they were working under the willow had come up with only one possible reason for this. But none of them really wanted to discuss the events in the Ministry of Magic just yet. It was still a little to soon.

On the first Tuesday after his arrival a the Burrow nothing much had changed. July was in its declining days and yet still no owl had arrived with their OWL results. They headed out, not long after breakfast, as they had every day and set themselves up to get some more of their work done. It was while looking up from a particularly hard to read passage on the theoretical use of Basilisk venom in a potion to sedate Whomping Willows, that Harry noticed something to his right.

"This is the bit I hate about holidays," Ron said suddenly, throwing down Harry's copy of Practical Defensive Magic and its Use Against the Dark Arts: Volume III with a thump loud enough to bring Harry's attention mostly back to the group.

"What, homework?" he asked in a distracted tone while looking around again.

"Well yes, but that wasn't what I was talking about. I was talking about the whole not being able to do magic. All this theory is like being back in bloody Umbridge's class again." He paused before adding, "only without Umbridge."

Harry was trying to work out what had caught his attention before. Over near the fence he spotted a familiar sight, although he hadn't been expecting to see it here.

"That's not true Ron," Hermione put in, looking up from her own Defence against the Dark Arts work. "This is at least useful and interesting. Umbridge taught from that horrible, pointless text that taught us absolutely nothing new or even useful!"

Again Harry's attention was drawn away from his right as he and Ron looked at each other with their eyes widening in shock.

"Never thought I would see the day..." Ron said in a wondering voice, before pulling himself together and conceding the point.

Harry easily relocated the anomaly in the corner of his eye, and when he was sure that it was staying where it was, surreptitiously nudged Ron. He had remembered how interested Ron had been in his flour bombs and decided to give his friend a go.

"How's your aim?" He asked Ron quietly.

"Not bad," Ron whispered back. "Why?"

Harry flicked his eyes in the direction he had seen the suspiciously flattened patch of grass. "Watcher."

"Tonks?"

"No. Watcher," he told Ron before saying at a more normal volume, "It's in my bag, help yourself."

Harry moved the bag closer to Ron so that he could easily rifle though it. He watched as with one quick movement, Ron pulled his hand free, twisted and threw the flour bomb accurately at the spot Harry had indicated. It impacted with a thump, showering their watcher with the fine powder. The three watched as, coughing violently, Bill Weasley emerged from under the invisibility cloak he had been using.

"Damn," He managed to get out between coughs. "Should have listened to Moody, but I thought he was exaggerating in his usual paranoid 'Constant Vigilance' way."

"Apparently not," Harry commented dryly, before turning back to his work.

Ron however was not prepared to do any more work.

"Cheers, Harry, that was fun," he exclaimed. "Must have been really irritating, what with all these people watching your every move."

"They've been dead useful though. At least after the first one I didn't have to send Hedwig off to the Order with my 'all's well' reports. I just chucked the letters to whoever wasn't sneaky enough to avoid getting hit by the flour bombs."

Hermione smothered a laugh as she tried to give the boys a disapproving look. "Come on Ron, you've still got two essays to finish."

"I'll do 'em later. We've still got plenty of time. A whole month to get them done. Let's go play Quidditch." Ron argued. "Come on Bill, you'll play, won't you?" Ron called over his shoulder to his eldest brother who was trying vainly to beat the flour out of the invisibility cloak. Ron turned back to the others without waiting for a response, "and Ginny'll play, and..." He examined the midafternoon sun in the sky considering, "...the twins should be coming home soon. And Charlie said he'd be back early today."

Harry waited. When after a few moments he didn't feel the dread that had filled him last time Quidditch had been brought up he replied. "Alright then."

Hermione huffed at them, but joined them in packing up their things and trudging back up to the house.

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The wind ruffled Harry's hair in a way that he hadn't realised that he had missed, until he was once again experiencing it. He was up in the air again. He was on his Firebolt again. He knew when he stopped he would be hit anew by his grief, but he also knew that it wouldn't be as bad as before. But for now he was free.

He flew up as high as they were allowed to go while at the Burrow before going into a steep dive, going faster and faster until he didn't know if he would be able to pull up in time. Vaguely he could hear cheers and a few cries of concern from those around him, but he ignored them all. He was once again in his element. At the last possible moment he pulled up and came to a stop, mere centimetres from the ground.

"My team gets Harry," George announced to the loud cries of denial from his twin.

"Bugger," Fred looked around. "Well, Charlie isn't here yet, so I get Ginny."

"Bill."

"Ron."

"Hermione."

"Oh, no. I'm not playing." Hermione was adamant and she sat down firmly to prove her point.

"Alright then, I get Charlie when he gets here."

"But then you'll be one up."

"So?"

The twins had a brief midair tussle. It only ended when a small explosion issued from one of Fred's pockets, enveloping them in cherry red smoke for a few seconds.

"Forgot about that," Fred said, astounded.

Everyone else was too busy laughing to say anything. After all it wasn't every day that someone caught one of the twins unawares. The fact that Fred had done it to himself made the whole thing even funnier.

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Without enough people to fill all the positions it was a very rough game of Quidditch that ensued. The competition between the twins was especially fierce. Bill and Ron were the keepers for their respective sides. With no snitch or bludgers, the others all became chasers.

For all Bill was larger he had not been as effective a keeper as Ron, who had been in preparation for the upcoming school Quidditch season from almost the minute he had arrived home. Harry had noticed that Ginny showed promise in her position, and remembered that she had told him that after he regained his position on the house team as seeker - which he supposed he must have with the Quidditch ban lifted and from what everyone had been telling him - she hoped to get on the team again as a chaser.

The twins seemed to have become locked into a private battle not long into the game. They had very little to do with the others and forgot that they were supposed to be chasers. This had the unfortunate side-effect of leaving Harry alone in combating Ginny. As a seeker Harry had excellent reflexes and was a natural flier, but most of his experience was with the snitch. Sure, as his invisible watchers could no doubt attest, he had been throwing his flour bombs with superb aim - and to this he attributed any success he had in this match - but they, too, were smaller than a quaffle. Ron had gotten a good laugh out of his early efforts. It had taken quite a bit of the first hour before he had become comfortable with flying with the quaffle, and by this stage Ginny had gained a fairly good lead. Harry was forced into catch-up mode.

Charlie showed up as the sun reached the horizon. The twins stopped their competition to try to entice him onto their teams, but he decided that what they really needed was a referee. He had the twins join in properly and the game running much as they had originally envisioned within minutes. Harry and George managed to close the gap between their team and Fred's, pushing Ron to work to protect his goals.

The game had gone on for hours, until finally the last rays of sunlight were gone, and the starlight was all that lit their game. Hermione had left about an hour ago, although not many of them had noticed until they finally came back to earth, hot, sweaty and tired, but exhilarated as well.

Bill undid the rough transfiguration on the trees that had become their goals, and they all ambled to the broom-shed to put away their brooms for the night. It was while laying his Firebolt down that the grief Harry had been expecting finally hit him. He was glad that he was bringing up the rear as it gave him the opportunity to compose himself before he had to enter the brightly lit Burrow. He dropped back further from the main group as he became wound up in his thoughts. I'm sorry Sirius. I didn't mean for you to die, not then, not like that. You were the closest thing to a real family that I've ever had, and now you're gone, all because I was in to much of a rush to do something instead of using my head. I was so busy trying to keep you safe that I put you in danger.

The light coming out of the back door of the Burrow made it look comfortingly warm and inviting. It shook him out of his momentary lapse into grief, and he wiped his eyes, squared his shoulders and left the darkness outside.

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The next morning Harry woke up rather late. The light was streaming in through the window and even before he put on his glasses he had to blink several times and squint before he could open his eyes properly in the glare.

Ron was not in his bed.

He headed down the stairs, stopping outside Ginny's room and listening. When he heard nothing he tried knocking. That too, proved fruitless. So he gingerly opened the door and stuck his head inside. The girls were not there.

Harry wondered where everyone else was.

He went down a couple more flights and tried the twins' room, although given the time he held out little hope that they would be present. This was quickly proven correct.

Harry puzzled over this as he established that none of the Weasleys were in their rooms and, on reaching the ground floor, that none of them were even present in the Burrow. Why had no-one woken him up? Where had all of them gone? Was the trip to Diagon Alley today? He didn't think so, as they usually went later in the summer, and besides, their results and booklists were yet to arrive.

Percy and Mr Weasley would be at the Ministry. George and Fred would be at their shop. Bill would be at Gringotts, as he had been home yesterday. Charlie should be here though, as one of the elder Weasley boys was always on hand. Mrs Weasley should be here too, unless urgent Order business had called her away. Ron, Hermione and Ginny though, maybe they were outside.

He headed back up to Ron's room to get dressed, but when Harry opened to his trunk to get his clothes out he made another discovery. All his books were missing. And his bag. Something was going on.

He rapidly to pull on some a shirt and trousers and bounded down the stairs. He raced through the kitchen and opened the door, planning to head straight for the willow.

But when the door was open he came to a standstill. For there everyone was, and more besides. They must have made use of a judicious amount of silencing spells to disguise the noise that was probably the main reason that nobody had noticed his standing there, mouth hanging open in surprise.

He stood there for several minutes, frozen, until by chance Hermione looked up from the table she was setting and gave a most un-Hermione like squeal.

"Harry!! When did you get there? Happy birthday!!"

And indeed, when he thought about it, it was his birthday. His sixteenth. Without his countdown calendar, which he had left at the Dursleys, he had lost track of the days.

Everyone else, alerted to his presence by Hermione, crowded round.

"Happy birthday, Harry," Charlie congratulated him. Mrs Weasley beamed at him from where she was somewhat tied up, decorating the garden.

"Yeah, happy birthday, mate," Ron said giving him an awkward pat on the back. While he was close he quietly added, "head for the willow, it's your only chance." He backed off again fast and slipped off into the crowd. Harry wondered why.

Tonks, with her hair a green vivid enough to rival the twins jackets, came up and tousled his hair in greeting. She checked behind him before turning around and giving the all clear sign to the other Order members present. "He's unarmed!"

A flight of flour bombs took off and arched toward him. Not expecting it, Harry was hit by a good few before he turned and ran for it.

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It was a great birthday party. The best Harry had ever had, not that that was hard to do. When Harry managed to lose his pursuers and get to the willow tree, the younger Weasleys and Hermione were already there, waiting there for him. Ron was holding Harry's bag filled with what had to be last of his supply of flour bombs.

"As the only members of Dumbledore's Army present, we feel that it is our duty to aid you in this endeavour," Hermione told him formally, handing over his invisibility cloak that Harry hadn't noticed she was holding. "So what do you want us to do?"

Harry looked at his troops. This was war. He dusted himself off as best he could as he considered his next move.

"Fred, George, got any specials with you?"

The twins looked at each other with huge grins. As one they turned to Harry and saluted "Yes, sir."

"You know what to do."

They took over the flour bomb stockpile and started to make some alterations. Harry looked back to the others.

"Ron, get brooms for you, me and Ginny. We're going to be the aerial assault. Ginny, are there any bags that we can use to carry our ammunition?" He watched as they ran off furtively in different directions. "Hermione, I need to know exactly who and what we're up against."

Hermione quickly told him who the guests were. Tonks, Harry already knew was present. Hermione rattled off a list of Order members that he had met over the last summer, most of whom he had also met this summer, whilst they had been performing their 'guard' duties. Others were not there yet but expected to show up later in the day.

"They'll be out for revenge," he mused to himself, before his head snapped up. "One minute, Hermione. Is Lupin coming? I didn't see him, and you didn't say he was here."

Harry was both looking forward and dreading seeing the last true Marauder. He hadn't heard from him, or seen anything of him since Kings Cross. He hadn't really had a chance to gauge how the older man had been coping at the time. He wondered how Lupin was doing. If he, like Harry, was keeping himself busy to combat the grief of their mutual loss.

"He's going to be here, Harry. But their not expecting him for a while, I'm not sure why, I think Dumbledore might have had him off doing something. I heard some of the others mention that Mad-eye had gone with him, to keep - for want of a better term - an eye on him."

By the time Ron and Ginny had both arrived back the twins had finished making their alterations to the flour bombs. Harry set about making his battle plans.

"Hermione, you and the twins will be our ground forces. I think we should probably keep away from the area that's been set up for the party, but watch out for attacks launched from there. Ron, I've lost too many chess games to you, to not realise that strategy is your thing. Any guesses on what their doing?"

Ron thought for a moment, "Ginny, you were just up at the house, any enemy movement?"

They fell to planning their counter-attack.

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Harry looked around at the people gathered to help him celebrate his birthday. Most were still sporting signs of their monumental battle, white patches on their clothes, powder rising from someone's hair as they shook their head 'no' to a question someone else had asked them.

In the end a truce had been called, as a stalemate had been reached. Harry's team had the advantage early on with their use of broomsticks. Bill and Charlie had tried to copy them, but Hermione, well stocked with ammo, had control of the broom shed.

The twins specials had almost made up for the fact that two thirds of their team were unable to use magic, but Harry knew that if it hadn't been for the wards preventing Apparating, they would have lost spectacularly.

They had, in fact, been winning, with most of their opponents in full retreat under their onslaught. Unfortunately it was at this time that reinforcements had arrived. Mad-Eye Moody, with his magical eye capable of seeing though almost anything as far as Harry knew, quickly put the advantage of using his invisibility cloak to rest. And Lupin, who apparently had not been in on the Order's plans, after being brought up to speed, had proven their downfall, his years of Marauding experience countering their use of Fred and George.

Harry chuckled to himself as he remembered the shocked looks on the twins faces.

A hush drew over the crowd, drawing Harry back to the present, as Mrs Weasley came out the back door with a huge chocolate birthday cake bobbing slightly in the air ahead of her. She gave a wave of her wand and it gently came to a rest on the main table. Another wave and sixteen lit candles appeared on top.

Harry was guided over to the table as the revellers started to sing.

After everyone had finished singing him Happy Birthday, they looked at him expectantly.

Harry stared at the candles on his second proper birthday cake, one that he could share with his friends, those around him. He knew he had to make a wish, as he had half-heartedly in the past, but this time it would have to mean something.

He thought hard. Then it struck him: his resolution. He closed his eyes to make his wish.

I wish for a little time, Harry thought. I need it to prepare, to be ready to do what I need to do. I need to defeat Voldemort once and for all. I'm working really hard. I'm going to give it my best shot. I owe it to Sirius and to Cedric, who have fallen to his evil conniving. To Ron and Hermione, better friends than I could have hoped for, who have stood by me though thick and thin. To Ginny who has faced the darkness twice and come out on top. To the Weasley's who took me in and treated me as one of their own. To Lupin. I owe it to my parents, who sacrificed their lives that I might live. I will not let any of them down ever again. I can't.

Those around him seemed to realise that they had witnessed something profound, for all that he had made his wish silently. When he opened his eyes, he could see that they were watching him, and he wondered what they saw. What it was about him that seemed to have them so spellbound, so entranced?

Pig hooted and dive-bombed the cake, only stopped by Harry's lightning fast seeker reflexes. It successfully broke the mood, and everyone started to clap, and talk, and laugh again. The party went on until the late hours of the night.

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Shall I shut up now?

A/N: Harry's birthday was on a Wednesday that year - I looked it up to be sure. The book Ron is using is based on the 'set of excellent books' Sirius and Lupin gave Harry for Christmas the previous year (OotP p.443).

Stay tuned for chapter six, where the 'no' question will be answered, OWLs will fly in the window, Hermione will read a book, Ginny will get an unwelcome present, the DA will play a role, and Hermione will be very upset (although not necessarily in that order).